Boone layoffs in Kentucky

Seven people have been let go at the Danville Advocate-Messenger and Winchester Sun this week, both small dallies in Kentucky. Editors at both papers out (one by "retirement"). Boone Newspapers just took over ownership last month. Schurz Communications was the previous owner of the two papers.

 

Pretty much SOP for Boone (and a lot of other chains). They buy small, often struggling dailies, and the first thing they do is cut costs by cutting staff. The real fun comes later, when they stop replacing the people who leave from the already-gutted staff while adding more and more responsibilities and special section work to those that have survived the purge.

 

The publisher there has been purging people out since he got there 18 or so months ago. A lot of good people have lost their jobs and others have left on their own to get out. .... It's been a mess for the Kentucky group (Winchester, Danville, Nicholasville and Stanford) for about two years now.